Who Built Stonehenge?

On a lonely, windswept plain in southern England sits one of the most enigmatic monuments ever constructed by man Stonehenge

Built around five thousands years ago, the circle of earth and stone has become a cultural landmark, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world Yet even now, little is known of exactly how the stones were placed, or what is their purpose in such a remote location So who did build Stonehenge? And why? Stonehenge is located approximately 136 kilometers from London, on a plateau of land near the medieval city of Salisbury The stones we see today are believed to have been erected sometime between 2,400 and 2,200 BC However, archaeologists have discovered evidence of human habitation on the site dating back to 3,100 BC – to when the first earthen works in the area were constructed

By the time the Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD, Stonehenge is believed to have been an established site of worship for at least two millenia Roman scholar Diodorus Siculus, writing in the first century AD, made what may be the first description of it “And there is also on the island both a magnificent sacred precinct of Apollo and a notable temple which is adorned with many votive offerings and is spherical in shape… and the majority of its inhabitants… sing hymns of praise to the god, glorifying his deeds” Surprisingly, the stones that form the iconic English monument are actually from Wales A 1923 survey of the henge by geologist H

HThomas suggested the stones originated in the Preseli hills in Wales, around 225 kilometers away There are around 80 stones in all, each approximately 22 tons Yet Neolithic Britons didn’t have even basic technologies like pulleys and the wheel, to transport and hoist these gargantuan rocks This has prompted a select few to believe it was impossible for locals to build Stonehenge

In 1963, astronomer Gerald Hawkins compared the alignment of the stones to the position of astral bodies in the night sky in 1500 BC Hawkins found 165 correlations, and proposed that Stonehenge was a “neolithic computer”, capable of predicting eclipses and used as a ancient observatory On the heels of this research, Erich Von Daniken suggests that humans were neither capable nor in need of such a machine Instead, Von Daniken argues aliens helped the ancient Britons to build the megalith According to Daniken the concentric circular pattern, much diminished today, is a model of the universe, and served as a solar and lunar calendar

Its importance as a calendar therefore made Stonehenge a launchpad for alien spacecraft to continue assisting humanity around the world Daniken’s hypothesis is supported by the fact that the stones are aligned to the direction of the sunrise during the summer solstice and sunset during the winter solstice This fact not lost on the hundreds of people who practise druidism on the site today Yet aliens are not the only assistants the builders of Stonehenge are believed to have had In April 2016, televangelist Jim Bakker and author Dennis R

Lindsay claimed that Stonehenge is a Satanic structure built by demonic Giants Lindsay proposes that giants were created by Satan to destroy Israel because, according to the Bible, Israel is the land in which God has chosen to live forever According to Lindsay Stonehenge is perfect evidence of this, not only because only giants could move such immense blocks of stone, but also because there is a similar stone circle in the Golan Heights in Israel called Gilgal Rephaim – known in Hebrew as the Wheel of Giants However these theories are contradicted by much of the archeological and scientific data A decade-long project by universities from York, Cardiff and Sheffield revealed pig bones, found at a Neolithic village near Stonehenge, were transported 800 kilometres from the east coast of Scotland

This shows there was far more cooperation and diplomacy between the far corners of Britain than previously thought Historian Susan Greaney believes the evidence points to Stonehenge being used as a national meeting place for early Britons This in turn could explain how they had sufficient manpower to move the huge stones, even though they were limited to using ancient techniques like wooden rollers, A frames and leather ropes The pig bones discovered in the village also reveal that the animals were nine months old at the time of slaughter This suggests the annual gathering was a midwinter solstice, instead of a summer festival

This means Salisbury Plain was a religious gathering place for people across the British Isles, not a space observatory, as Gerald Hawkins argues A 2017 geophysical survey by the University of Birmingham revealed underground caverns and a vast complex of wooden buildings surrounding the main henge, suggesting that the area surrounding Stonehenge was a place of major human habitation Despite all this evidence of human habitation, no substantiated evidence has been uncovered to suggest aliens or giants were involved in the construction of the monument Stonehenge is merely the most famous of hundreds of dolmans, henges and stone circles built in stone age Europe

Yet the exact construction method is still a matter of debate According to British archaeologist Colin Renfrew Stonehenge could have taken as many as 30 million man hours to complete, or 100 men working without sleep for 34 years to complete This may sound extreme, but there are building projects in modern Europe, such as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, that have taken over a century to complete And we know that Stonehenge was built in stages, over generations and with probably far more than just one hundred men Therefore, our ancestors taking time to use difficult transportation techniques over great distances is entirely plausible

As with the the Pyramids and Machu Picchu, Stonehenge is a mystery that has drawn people to it for centuries It is a symbol of a bygone age that is as alien to us today as the furthest reaches of our solar system, which makes knowing precisely who built the monument, and how, difficult Yet current evidence favours a more terrestrial origin, and without further research, Stonehenge will remain a mystery and a monument to the beginnings of Britain itself